1st Air Army


The 1st Air Army was an Air Army in the Soviet Air Force which served during World War II. It was formed on May 10, 1942, within the Soviet Western Front, and renamed the 26th Air Army on January 10, 1949, in the Belorussian Military District.
After the war, it was reformed on July 1, 1957, and was active until 1998.

Second World War

When it was formed, the 1st Air Army was made up of two fighter aviation divisions, two mixed aviation divisions a training aviation regiment, a long-range reconnaissance aviation regiment, a communications squadron, and a night close-range bombing aviation regiment.

Structure 1942

May 10, 1942:
May 23, 1942:
In March 1943, the Air Army also included the French Normandie-Niemen squadron, which was later reorganized into a regiment.
In 1942, the 1st Air Army fought alongside the troops of the Western Front, supporting them near Yukhnov, Gzhatsk and Rzhev. The Air Army later participated in the Rzhev-Sychevka, Rzhev-Vyazma, Oryol, Smolensk, Belarusian, Memel and East Prussian offensive operations.
In May 1945, the 1st Air Army comprised the:
Throughout the war, the 1st Air Army made 290,000 sorties. Five of the Air Army's formations where reorganized as "Guards Units", 50 formations were given "honourable titles", 44 formations received various awards, 145 pilots and navigators received the title "Hero of the Soviet Union" and over 17,000 of its servicemen were also given various medals and decorations.

Command structure

Source: Militera.lib.ru
Commanders:
Chiefs of Staff:
In 1957, the army was reformed by the amalgamation of the 29th Air Army and the 54th Air Army within the Soviet Air Forces. It served in the Far Eastern Military District until 1998.
The army's order of battle c.1988 according to Vad777 and supplemented by Holm/Feskov et al. 2013 was:
In 1989 the 1st Air Army disbanded the headquarters of the 33rd Fighter-Bomber Aviation Division, and in 1994 the headquarters of the 303rd Fighter-Bomber Aviation Division.
The 1st Air Army was merged with the 11th Air Defence Army in 1998 to form the 11th Air and Air Defence Forces Army.